Archive for the ‘Google’ Category
Gmail users suffer through outage
September 1st, 2009 | 
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Gmail went offline Tuesday for some users.
(Credit: Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)
Gmail users were unable to get to their accounts on Monday as an outage struck the Google e-mail service.
“We’re aware of a problem with Google Mail affecting a small subset of users. The affected users are unable to access Google Mail,” Google said at 11:12 a.m. PDT on its Google Apps status dashboard after it discovered the error.
At 11:28 a.m., some good news arrived: “Google Mail service has already been restored for some users, and we expect a resolution for all users in the near future.”
However, two hours later, the problems persisted for some, and the Twittersphere was abuzz with griping.
The problems appeared to affect the Web-based version of the service, but accounts could be reached using third-party e-mail software that used the IMAP, or Internet Message Access Protocol, interface.
Gmail is used by tens of millions of people, and its fast growth carried it past AOL’s e-mail service into third place, according to ComScore.
Google didn’t immediately comment on the scope and cause of the outage. It’s not the first Gmail outage this year.
Google Apps customers, who pay $50 per user per year, get extensions of their service contracts, if their services are down for longer than a certain duration. The dashboard showed only mail to have troubles, not other Google Apps services, such as Google Calendar, Google Talk, and Google Docs.
Outages pose problems for Google, as it tries to persuade companies to buy into its cloud-computing vision, in which applications are hosted on the Internet rather than on corporate computers. But Google argues that its service availability is competitive with most organizations’ abilities to run their own e-mail servers.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-10323306-264.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Sony shipping Chrome on Vaios
Google promised earlier this year that a major computer maker would start to ship its Chrome browser.
Sony’s the one.
Sony’s Vaio line has begun carrying the browser in the U.S., the Financial Times reported late Monday.
According to a Dow Jones report, all Vaio-branded PCs are now using Chrome as their default browser. A Sony representative told Dow Jones that there are no plans to add Chrome to Vaios outside the U.S.
Vaios will continue to come with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer in tandem.
The Financial Times also reported that other companies are in talks with Google about Chrome and that the browser will also be promoted to Internet users who download RealNetworks’ RealPlayer media-streaming software. Google has previously said it’s in discussions with Dell about bundling the software.
To date–a day before the first anniversary of its launch on September 2, 2008–Chrome has around 30 million active users or around 3 percent of the global market. This makes it the fourth most-popular browser after Internet Explorer, Mozilla’s FireFox, and Apple’s Safari.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10322884-92.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Google reforms Chrome for Snow Leopard
Google released an update for Chrome to fix compatibility problems with Snow Leopard on Monday, which along with other fixes shows the gradually maturing state of the Mac OS X version of the browser.
Chrome 4.0.203.4 for the Mac is only a couple notches up the version ladder than the version 4.0.203.2 it replaces, but there are some significant changes in the developer-preview software. For Snow Leopard compatibility, programmers fixed a garbled text bug, said Jonathan Conradt, a Chrome engineering program manager, in a blog post Monday.
Google began Chrome on Windows but has been gradually moving it to Linux and Mac OS X. Those versions so far are still only developer-preview incarnations not ready for prime time yet, though I find myself gradually slipping over to Chrome on my Mac system now that it’s getting mature enough for me. I suspect a beta version isn’t far off.
Google is fleshing out some basic features, though. One user-interface tweak enables support for command- and shift-clicking.
Another feature coming to the Mac is support for the tab-to-search feature in the omnibox. That lets you perform a site search directly from the address bar by typing a URL, for example news.cnet.com, then the tab key, then search terms.
Tab-to-search also works with Amazon, Google, Google News, and Yahoo, The New York Times, but not Bing yet. I search a lot, and this saves me one step and waiting for a page to load just so I can click in its search bar.
The tab-to-search feature has arrived on Chrome for Mac OS X, too.
(Credit: Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)
The most annoying issue I’ve found–and let me know if I’m missing something obvious here–is that I lose the file-upload dialog box while using Gmail with Chrome on Mac OS X if I switch away from the application while halfway through. If I don’t attach a file immediately, that tab’s instance of Gmail becomes useless because I can’t get back to it.
Performance still is an issue with the Mac version, though. I was pleased to see some work on new-tab creation speed, with programmer Mark Mentovai using various changes to work the time from 1-3 seconds down to a fifth of a second.
Google is working hard to spread Chrome, though it has small market share at present. It’s now installed as the default browser on some Sony laptops, as Endgadget noticed in July with the Vaio NW, and I heard about earlier in August.
Google has been advertising the browser as well and is at work making it the foundation of its Chrome OS.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-10322746-264.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Google co-founder, wife give $500K to Creative Commons
Copyright reform advocacy group Creative Commons announced on Thursday that it has received a gift from Google co-founder Sergey Brin and his wife, Anne Wojcicki–to the tune of $500,000.
“This gift–made in addition to the financial support that Google offers CC annually–will be used to support Creative Commons generally,” a blog post from Creative Commons read, “with a focus on developing our Science Commons project, which Wojcicki and Brin are particularly excited about.”
Wojcicki is the co-founder of genetics start-up 23andMe.
Creative Commons founder Lawrence Lessig stepped down from the organization last year in order to focus on a new initiative, Change Congress. But at the same time that it announced Lessig’s departure, the organization also announced a $4 million grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
Creative Commons unveiled the Science Commons project in 2004, aiming to steer the nonprofit’s efforts into the world of patents and scientific research.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10320372-93.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Posted in finacial support, Google, Science | 
Tags: $500k, Creative Commons, Google, Science Commons project | 
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Android apps show big potential for growth
Android, iPhone and iPod Touch users are all highly engaged with applications and frequently download them to their devices, according to a new survey from AdMob.
However, Android has a much smaller base of devices and thus has more upside ahead.
AdMob, a company that tracks mobile Web and application usage, found that Android and iPhone users download nine to 10 apps a month and iPod Touch users download 18 a month. More than half of the Android and iPhone users spend more than 30 minutes a day using apps, according to the survey results released Thursday (PDF).
That’s some serious engagement and a lot of runway for Android. Why? Android-powered devices–T-Mobile’s MyTouch is the headliner–are hard to come by. However, that’s changing as Motorola will be taking Android handsets to large carriers like Verizon Wireless in the fourth quarter.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10319403-94.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Posted in Android, cell phone, Communication, Google, iPod, Tech |
Tags: Android, apps, Google, iPod, iPod Touch, mobile web, Motorola, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless |
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